*G3D is symbolism for, God the Father, God the Son & God the Holy Spirit
“Once Saved, Always Saved”
Recorded: April 14, 2024
Born Again – Verses Salvation
Few issues contribute to more disunity in the body of Christ than an ages old debate over eternal security. Some say “once saved, always saved,” while others make the case for Christians being able to lose their salvation. The former crowd points to verses like John 10:27-28 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” The same would be said for the verses Hebrews 10:14 For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified, John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life, and Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Can We Fall From Grace?
Those that believe in what John Wesley called “backsliding” to the point of returning to a lost condition refer to verses like Hebrews 6:4-6 ” For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.” 2 Peter 1:10 seems to indicate the possibility of a fall with the words “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:” This sounds like the writer is saying it takes diligence on the part of Christians to avoid a fall from grace much like is referred to in Gal 5:4 “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.”
Which Side Is Right?
Each side of the argument has ample scriptural evidence to support their view point and this begs the question about which group is right. I believe that both sides are correct about what they espouse and both sides are wrong for not accepting the belief of the other camp. It is time for the church to come to agreement and settle this dispute.
Is This A Strange Paradox?
The issue concerns confusion over what it means to be born again as differentiated from being saved. Many if not most Christians do not know the difference if they are aware of one at all. In fact the dissimilitude is substantial.
Born Again Verses Salvation
Few issues contribute to more disunity in the body of Christ than an ages old debate over eternal security. Some say “once saved always saved” while others make the case for Christians being able to lose their salvation. The former crowd points to verses like John 10:27-28 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” The same would be said for the verses Hebrews 10:14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified, John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life and Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Can We Fall From Grace?
Those that believe in what John Wesley called “backsliding” to the point of returning to a lost condition refer to verses like Hebrews 6:4-6 ” For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.” 2 Peter 1:10 seems to indicate the possibility of a fall with the words “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:” This sounds like the writer is saying it takes diligence on the part of Christians to avoid a fall from grace much like is referred to in Gal 5:4 “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.”
Which Side Is Right?
Each side of the argument has ample scriptural evidence to support their view point and this begs the question about which group is right. I believe that both sides are correct about what they espouse and both sides are wrong for not accepting the belief of the other camp. It is time for the church to come to agreement and settle this dispute.
Is This A Strange Paradox?
The issue concerns confusion over what it means to be born again as differentiated from being saved. Many if not most Christians do not know the difference if they are aware of one at all. In fact the dissimilitude is substantial.
The reason for the confusion is lack of understanding as to where the experience of being born again or saved take place. The Bible teaches that in much the same way God is three in one we are also tripartite. In a similar way to God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit we are spirit, soul and body. This is illustrated in Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. We can see in this verse that we are spirit, soul and body. This is reinforced in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 ” And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The born again experience takes place in the human spirit. Jesus explained this to Nicodemus in John 3:5 when he said ” Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God”. Jesus tells Nicodemus that being born again is a spiritual event in verses 6-8 ” That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.”
John 1:12-13 informs us that the second birth gives us the power to become a son of God. ” But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God.” which is bolstered in Romans 8:14 with “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God”. Rebirth takes place in the human spirit which allows us to communicate with the Holy Spirit as well as the angelic host. Our quickened human spirit gives us a direct line to heaven and enjoys perfect communication with the Holy Spirit as opposed to our soul which is comprised of the mind, will and emotions. Paul makes the distinction in 1 Corinthians 14:14 ” For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.” We see from this that the human spirit and soul can operate independently as Paul says in verse 15 “What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.”
The area of man that mimics God in his sovereignty is the soul. This is the seat of the intellect, volition and all feelings. Christians are free in the soul to agree with or reject what is coming from heaven via their human spirit. Salvation takes place in the soul and effects the mental and physical condition. New birth is in the human spirit and cannot be affected by the soul or body nor any outside influence. This is evidenced in 1 Peter 1:23 “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” The salvation of the soul however requires some effort on our part according to Philippians 2:12 ” Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” Paul is in harmony with this train of thought when he says in Romans 12:2 ” And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
The New Testament speaks of believing with the heart a great deal. The word heart means the seat of the desires, feelings, affections, passion, impulses, i. e., the heart or mind. The heart operates in the area of the soul which governs the mind will and emotions. Romans 10:10 says ” For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Hebrews 4:12 tells us that thinking and exorcising the will takes place in the heart when he says that God “is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
It is to be understood therefore that We are born again in our human spirits and saved in our soul. Our spirits have been made alive and are incorruptible while our souls have the option to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit which is in communication with our human spirit. We work out our salvation with fear and trembling in the area of our soul.
Hebrews 2:3 implies that we can choose to neglect our salvation albeit to our detriment. Galatians 5:4 speaks to the problem of falling from grace and verse 1 of the same chapter admonishes believers to “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” In the area of our mind will and emotions we see many people that are entangled with the yoke of bondage in various forms in spite of the fact that they have had true conversion experiences.
Christians are always and forever in right standing before God in the area of their human spirit according to Hebrews 12:23 “To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,”. This allows us to fulfill the command of the Lord in Deuteronomy 18:13 “Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God.” Likewise this helps us understand what the writer of Ephesians 1″4 means with the words “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:” Our regenerated human spirit is holy and without blame while in the soul there is an ongoing struggle to align our mind, will and emotions with it. This involves a learning process and discipline on the part of the Christian to achieve the status of a heart united with the spirit. This is what is meant by renewing the mind. Instead of once saved always saved we should rather understand that once we are born again we are always born again. Indeed we can neglect our salvation and fall from grace to the effect that even a born again person can experience a hellish existence as a result of sin. The reward for following the direction of our human spirit and obeying God as well as the consequence of rejecting the same will be born out in our bodies. Can we sin and still go to heaven? Yes but it may speed up the process.
Prophet Kent Simpson
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